Talking Numpad Brailler for the blind .. hindi version coming soon

[Pk Sharma]

use number pad to type english

first try : http://axar.in/n-en

then try : http://axar.in/axarBr

this is also a good tool to learn western language alphabets/numbers

by type and hear method

--
axar mission :

www.axar.in

[Nirmal Verma]

Dear sharma ji,

What software is this and how it is useful for the visually challenged people. When we already have screen readers which reads everything then what is its need?

Regards

Nirmal Verma

--
आपको यह संदेश इसलिए प्राप्त हुआ क्योंकि आपने Google समूह "Scientific and Technical Hindi (वैज्ञानिक तथा तकनीकी हिन्दी)" समूह की सदस्यता ली है.
इस समूह से अनसब्सक्राइब करने के लिए और इससे ईमेल प्राप्त करना बंद करने के लिए, technical-hin...@googlegroups.com को एक ईमेल भेजें.
अधिक विकल्‍पों के लिए, https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out पर जाएं.
 
 

[Pk Sharma]

for WRITING nirmal ji

2013/6/3 Nirmal Verma <nirmal...@gmail.com>

--
axar mission :

www.axar.in

[Nirmal Verma]

Dear sharma ji

I am really very sorry but I did not understand its target audience. Why is it called a brailler?

Nirmal Verma

[Pk Sharma]

nirmal ji .. braille is the script used by blind people to read by touching

paper on which raised dots are 'written' .. 

brailler is a device which is used to imprint the dots on the paper

brailling is the process of writing braille

this tool helps blind to write braille letters/words/sentences/paragraphs/text

by using the number pad of the qwerty keyboard .. or a separate usb numberpad

bluetooth number pads are also available

target audience is the blind student and the teacher of the blind (who may not be blind)

[Nirmal Verma]

Dear Sharma ji

 

with respect,

some basic questions: where in india have you seen blind people writing braille on computer?

 

 if visually challenged people are using the mainstream keyboard then what is its need? (we have VI people in this group also who should answer this)

 

How will a teacher teach braille using this?? (being a teacher for the visually challenged children I don't see much utility. For me a Brailler is the best device for braille writing)

 

Have you talked to any Visually challenged person while developing this tool?

 

even for braille presses who do data entry in Braille,  do brailling directly in the softwares like Duxbury and win braille. modern braille translation softwares accept Unicode and are capable of converting those in braille.  

 

hindi Inscript keyboard layout is well supported by open source screen reader nvda and many VI persons are using it for reading and writing.

 

If you are into developing,  then designing a low cost brailling hardware is the need of the hour. I humbly request you to put your energy in that direction. If you have developed something of this kind or if you are interested in developing then there are prizes also available for your efforts. Perkins also had one such competitioin but the date is over but it should come next year also.

 

Dear Moderator: If you feel that this discussion goes out of the scope of the group then I and sharma ji would discuss it personally.

 

 

With sincere regards

 

Nirmal Verma

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Pk Sharma]

nirmal ji

answers btwn lines below :

On 3 June 2013 23:23, Nirmal Verma <nirmal...@gmail.com> wrote:

Dear Sharma ji

 

with respect,

some basic questions: where in india have you seen blind people writing braille on computer?

lv prasad eye institute in hyderabad has a department for teaching VI people to use computers

  

 if visually challenged people are using the mainstream keyboard then what is its need?

this utility also works from the numpad of the mainstream keyboard

 

(we have VI people in this group also who should answer this)

this would be good for our knowledge

  

How will a teacher teach braille using this??

if the teacher can see, it is easy for him to understand how this utility works 

and THEN teach the student

 

(being a teacher for the visually challenged children I don't see much utility. For me a Brailler is the best device for braille writing)

views are subjective .. what you feel is valid .. what others feel is also valid

Brailler is indeed THE BEST device . .but costs very much

this utility is FREE !

  

Have you talked to any Visually challenged person while developing this tool?

yes .. 

prof. manas bhul, vishwa bharti university, shantiniketan

also the secretary of an all india blind persons association

another blind school in behala, kolkata

west bengal govt's school for the blind

webel

nic

  

even for braille presses who do data entry in Braille,  do brailling directly in the softwares like Duxbury and win braille.

true

s/w is very costly

duxbury is not free

winBraille ? pls give some more info.

 

modern braille translation softwares accept Unicode and are capable of converting those in braille.  

that is correct .. but s/w is not free of cost

 

hindi Inscript keyboard layout is well supported by open source screen reader nvda and many VI persons are using it for reading and writing.

that is correct .. but learning to write with this numpad is easier than learning to write with the qwerty keys

  

If you are into developing,  then designing a low cost brailling hardware is the need of the hour.

you are right .. this is a step in the direction of using the existing h/w (numpad of the normal keyboard) for

using as an input device .. it needs only TWO keypresses vis a vis the brailer's upto six simultaneous keypresses

 

I humbly request you to put your energy in that direction.

note sir .. will do my best 

 

If you have developed something of this kind or if you are interested in developing then there are prizes also available for your efforts.

wow ! good .. let me have more details about those prizes

 

Perkins also had one such competitioin but the date is over but it should come next year also.

bad miss ! will be on the lookout

 

Dear Moderator: If you feel that this discussion goes out of the scope of the group then I and sharma ji would discuss it personally.

i humbly submit that such discussions further the very mission of this group and even if ONE blind user

is able to benefit from such discussions, OTHER members should be considerate and tolerate the 'disturbance'

to their personalities .. we ARE trying to put HINDI on a technical and scientific basis onto a h/w for the blind

(it works as well for those who are not blind yet choose to NOT SEE the ease of use for inputting  indian languages

.. especially devanaagarii based ones .. by using a simple numpad .. which is availabe for $6.00 delivered to 

their home ! along with axar.in/n-hi .. which is FREE of cost and for the benefit of mankind !)  

 

With sincere regards

 

Nirmal Verma

just curious .. what is your profession/business and nature of interest in braille centeric h/w, s/w, issues ?

[aniruddha]

कंप्युटर और ब्रेल संबंधी कुछ सूचनाएं दे रहा हूँ। नॉम पैड की १ से ६ कुँजियों के सहारे तथा ब्रेलर की तरह कंप्युटर कुंजीपटल के होम रो की ६ कुंजियों SDF  jkl के सहारे ब्रेल और युनिकोड हिंदी लिखने के लिए सॉफ्टवेयर बने, कुछ बिके भी मगर ज्यादा चले नहीं। असल में इनस्क्रिप्ट और स्क्रीन रीडर के समन्वित ताकत के आगे ये सारे उपकरण बेमानी और कामचलाउ साबित होते हैं। कंप्युटर पर लिखे ब्रेल को जिस प्रिटर की सहायता से मुद्रित किया जाएगा उसके सॉफ्टवेयर में आम पाठ को ब्रेल में बदलने की सुविधा होती है। हिंदी और अंग्रेजी में भी दृष्टिबाधित ब्रेल सामग्री को युनिकोड औ्र रोमण में टंकित कर ब्रेल में छापते हैं। मुश्किल हार्डवेयर की ही है। ब्रेल छपाई मसीन अभी भी लाखों में आती है। सॉफ्टवेयर तो हमारे समूह में भी एक था। युनिकोड को ब्रेल में बनाने के कई सॉफ्टवेयर उपलब्ध हैं। दिल्ली विश्वविद्यालय का इएशी नैब दिल्ली, जेएनयु आदी के कर्मचारी और छात्र हिंदी और अंग्रेजी दोनों में ब्रेल सामग्री तैयार करने के लिए आम टंकन पद्धति का ही प्रयोग करते हैं। भविष्य की दिशा तो यही है।

अनिरुद्ध।

[Pk Sharma]

अनिरुद्ध जी

नीचे पढ़ें

2013/6/4 aniruddha <anirud...@gmail.com>

 

नॉम पैड की १ से ६ कुँजियों के सहारे तथा ब्रेलर की तरह कंप्युटर कुंजीपटल के होम रो की ६ कुंजियों SDF  jkl के सहारे ब्रेल और युनिकोड हिंदी लिखने के लिए सॉफ्टवेयर बने, कुछ बिके भी मगर ज्यादा चले नहीं।

can i get one of each pls .. numpad AND sdf/jkl based for my research

the problem is this :

braille is 'taught' to be typed by pressing several keys at the 

same time to write just one character

old keyboards allowed this

new keyboards do not

further, the learner has to learn dot positions for each of the 52

devanaagarii letters .. and there is no 'pattern' or logic .. as the

devanaagarii braille has been adapted from the french braille

it is therefore very difficult to learn even to write ka, kha, ga ....

in axar braille utility, the time proven concept of the 

varga's of devanaagarii are the basis of key pressing

pressing a key the first time selects the varga

pressing a key the second time selects the varna

so it is much easier to understand, learn, remember, use

 

असल में इनस्क्रिप्ट और स्क्रीन रीडर के समन्वित ताकत के आगे

inscript is even now a bit more difficult to learn than 

the axar simpleKeyboard layout

there is no ताकत ! rather there is a weakness !!

the placements of the letters has some logic but most is 

just arbitrary .. the first letters of the consonats are also 

not placed consecutively .. but jump columns for no clear

reason .. they just jump ! and then the sequence jumps in

reverse direction too !

then there is the problem of half the letters are available 

on pressing shift + key .. unnecessary movement of the

fingers to the shift key all the time .. which incidentally

has to be pressed with the little finger(s) .. very tiring

axar layout is much simpler . from top left to right .. 

then middle left to right .. and finally bottom left to right

the maatraas on the numbers in the top row 

no shift press is needed for normal typing .. further letters

sure are available if shift press is used

the narrator only speaks out .. it is no help in typing in

 

ये सारे उपकरण बेमानी और कामचलाउ साबित होते हैं।

sorry .. do not agree for my utility .. 

maybe this argument is valid for your multiple keypress

based s/w h/w solution

 

कंप्युटर पर लिखे ब्रेल को जिस प्रिटर की सहायता से मुद्रित किया जाएगा

this 'special' printer requirement is a problem .. i am working on it

i have been able to test dot matrix printers to print dots of the 

braille specs by removing the ribbon and printing the braille 

letters as a paintbrush picture after pasting braille letter in a

paintbrush panel .. its reasonably good ! and much cheaper !!

 

उसके सॉफ्टवेयर में आम पाठ को ब्रेल में बदलने की सुविधा होती है।

thanks to anunad singh, we are able to do the conversion free of charge with his converters

 

हिंदी और अंग्रेजी में भी दृष्टिबाधित ब्रेल सामग्री को युनिकोड औ्र रोमण में टंकित कर ब्रेल में छापते हैं।

typing hindi by using roman letters is a looong standing method ..

it is now not needed .. not with unicode being now available for

indic languages .. especially devanaagarii .. printing is still an 

area to work on

 

मुश्किल हार्डवेयर की ही है। ब्रेल छपाई मसीन अभी भी लाखों में आती है।

as i have said above, i have been able to do this with a dmp printer

at much lesser cost .. the print head will wear out a bit earlier but 

now printer heads are available for replacement

 

सॉफ्टवेयर तो हमारे समूह में भी एक था।

you mean converter .. right ?

 

 

युनिकोड को ब्रेल में बनाने के कई सॉफ्टवेयर उपलब्ध हैं।

where .. pls let me know too

 

दिल्ली विश्वविद्यालय का इएशी नैब दिल्ली, जेएनयु आदी के कर्मचारी और छात्र हिंदी और अंग्रेजी दोनों में ब्रेल सामग्री तैयार करने के लिए आम टंकन पद्धति का ही प्रयोग करते हैं।

yes .. in the absence of other alternatives 

 

भविष्य की दिशा तो यही है।

don't agree .. simple solutions change the course of future useages

[Pk Sharma]

axar layout is much simpler . from top left to right .. then middle left to right .. and finally bottom left to right .. 

the maatraas are  on the numbers in the top row 

no shift press is needed for normal typing .. further letters

sure are available if shift press is used :

[Pk Sharma]

a more simple picture .. shows the simplicity of the layout ..

easy to understand, remember, use .. no shift key needed !

(in inscript .. half of the consonants need the shift+key combination

which is a problem since the shift key(s) need the little finger):

[pk sharma]

talking number pad based writing hindi on ALL devices 

on ALL operating systems .. browser based !

www.axar.in/n-hi

www.SimpleKeyboard.in/n-hi

n = numberPad based

hi= hindi 

there are others too : 

bn for bengali

en for english

gu for gujrati

and more to come ......

ALL languages indian and western !

[Nirmal Verma]

Dear Sharma ji

 

Thanks a lot for taking out time and responding to my questions. Thanks also to Aniruddha who has put his perspective here. I sincerely appreciate all your efforts. Aniruddha is our Friend in this group who is visually challenged himself and teaches in one of the reputed colleges in Delhi.

 

So far as I know at LV Prasad they have a low vision training centre and a computer centre where they teach computer with screen reader and there is no need to type in Braille in computer to do the daily work. Aniruddha didn't need to type in Braille to write his mail. Why do you think that a blind person needs to input in Braille in a computer. 

 

Braille input is done in computer only at the Braile presses or wherever there are braille printers and we need to type in our data. The list of braille translation software is attached with this mail. There are proprietary as well as open source softwares. Win Braille is a braille conversion software which is free but comes with index braille embossers.

 

What we need is a software which makes the document in .brf (Braille ready format) as an alternative to duuxbury.  if you are doing work on Braille then I urge you to work on liblouis. work on devnagri is not complete as per my information.  here is the link

 

code.google.com/p/liblouis

 

Please don't make a separate keyboard for visually challenged that is not needed but,  make the existing axar keyboard compatible to NVDA screen reader. this will give a very good tool in the hand of VI people. If you have just talked to webel then I would urge you to see what is the condition of the devices set up by them everywhere in india. They never worked!!

 

A software which I know is free of cost for inputting braille is perky duck and is available from Duxbury website.

 

Learning Braille is very easy once you know the codes for any one language. The best part is that if you can read English braille then you can almost read any language. :-) This is because Braille is phonetic script.

 

Teaching a child braille through computer is a strict no no!  nobody teaches writing to their sighted children using computer.  

 

According to your mail it seems that you are in process of developing a hardware for Brailling. I appreciate all your great efforts.

 

Sir, I work for Perkins School for the Blind in India as their Braille Literacy Consultant. Taking interest in software and hardwares useful for VI children is part of my job.

 

 

witth Best Regards

 

Nirmal Verma

 

 

[Pk Sharma]

request to other members : please ignore this 'information' if not interested

dear nirmal ji

thank you for your kind words and good suggestions 

responses below :

On 8 June 2013 11:33, Nirmal Verma <nirmal...@gmail.com> wrote:

So far as I know at LV Prasad they have a low vision training centre and a computer centre where they teach computer with screen reader

correct .. this was to answer your query as to who is using computers for the blind

personally, i don't understand their 'course' .. it is all based on expensive branded

equipments .. un-affordable for most

 

and there is no need to type in Braille in computer to do the daily work.

i agree .. yet, if  a sightless person DOES input in braille and simply prints it, 

it will help .. i guess .. field trials are already on to get more user feedbacks

 

Aniruddha didn't need to type in Braille to write his mail.

there is a vast difference between you, me, aniruddha and a fresh 

non-english speaking indian native learner .. who knows only

his own mother tongue .. he probably wil need to inut in his

mother tongue characters and get the output in braille .. 

so that it can be printed in braille if necessary .. or even

read out from some hardware

 

Why do you think that a blind person needs to input in Braille in a computer.

don't know .. but braillers are sold .. they are used for writing into

computers too .. wierd .. isn't it ? 

 

Braille input is done in computer only at the Braile presses  or wherever there are braille printers and we need to type in our data.

nope .. braillers are NOT used in braille presses only

 

There are proprietary as well as open source softwares. 

proprietary s/w is usually very unaffordable for indian poor blind users

open source .. i salute these guys .. they do real service to humanity !

 

 

Win Braille is a braille conversion software which is free but comes with index braille embossers.

therefore it is not free .. index braille embosser has to be bought :-(

 

What we need is a software which makes the document in .brf (Braille ready format) as an alternative to duxbury.

i don't know really .. to me .. a .txt file containing content formatted in braille  fonts is good enough

it is a sure alternative to the .brf format .. makes life easy for all

just select all, change format to devanaagarii (if hindi braille characters)

or change format to english (if english braille characters) and anyone can

read to check the work !

 

if you are doing work on Braille then I urge you to work on liblouis. work on devnagri is not complete as per my information.  here is the link

 

code.google.com/p/liblouis

i'll surely look into this

 

Please don't make a separate keyboard for visually challenged that is not needed

but i have already made a very compact keyboard h/w s/w solution for ALL

sighted and not sighted .. it is easy to understand, remember, use

let us see field results from both the sightless and the sighted and THEN

let THEM decide the simpler option

in fact, the EXISTING keyboard, pc, h/w can be used akso .. only the numPad ..

notwithstanding the fact that a usb numpad is an easier and cheaper h/w

 

but,  make the existing axar keyboard compatible to NVDA screen reader.

it already is !

 

this will give a very good tool in the hand of VI people.

i hope so

 

If you have just talked to webel then I would urge you to see what is the condition of the devices set up by them everywhere in india. They never worked!!

well .. they do work .. but they have used the braille algorithms ..

simultaneous key presses to get ONE character .. by putting an

aluminium mask on top of the keyboard .. with cut outs for only

six keys .. sdf jkl .. it works well .. but modern keyboards do not 

support six simultaneous keypresses any more .. 

besides, they have kept the price sky high .. no one CAN buy 

except a few institutions (which face funds crunch most of the time)

webel has a very good collaborator .. the company who made the

computer-less marathi braille reader (audio  and pin-outs from

usb drive .. but marketing is poor .. no sales !!

a software which I know is free of cost for inputting braille is

perky duck and is available from Duxbury website.

yes .. it is free .. it is good .. i have used it too

 

 Learning Braille is very easy once you know the codes for any one language.

basically if you study the 'patterns' of the first 10 letters .. it looks simple

the next ten letters need only one more dot .. at postiion 3

and the next six except one need one more dot at position 6

numers are the same but written one row down ..

creating the several dots is a problem .. when writing

i found it easy to understand, remember .. but painful to write by

pressing the stylus so many times .. the pc keys have to pressed

only ONCE .. of maybe Shift+key (TWICE) .. and you get a 

character .. in axar numpad ALL letters are easily obtained by

a PAIR .. 1st letter is for the 'group' or 'varga' .. 2nd letter is 

for the letter in the group ..  even for english .. including the 

capital letters .. abcd ABCD  .. all available on the 2nd keystroke 

 

The best part is that if you can read English braille then you can almost read any language. :-) This is because Braille is phonetic script.

yes .. i have used this same principle for creating the short hand 

keyboard .. numpad based .. you can read write ANY language

using the phonetic shorthand characters

speaking numpad based keyboard for  learning shorhand is on the way

pee .. bee .. chay .. jay .. etc

i had to design a shorhand font for this purpose

same is being done for hindi shorthand .. aashu lipi .. i had to desing

a shorthand font for that too

NOW one can read all languages of india too .. single script .. 

braille (bindu lipi)

OR

shortHand (aashu lipi)

and for indian dialects which have no script yet, 

bhartiya braille is a good solution .. though characters are a bit tough to learn

aashu lipi is easier as the characters are simple lines and curves 

ka kha ga gha              cha chha ja jha          ta tha da dha     

-      -,   -  -, (darker)     /        /,     /    /,           |    |,    |      |,      

 tta ttha  dda ddha     pa pha ba bha         and so on...

  (    (,      (      (           \      \,    \     \,       

 

Teaching a child braille through computer is a strict no no! 

??

 

nobody teaches writing to their sighted children using computer.  

??

 

According to your mail it seems that you are in process of developing a hardware for Brailling. I appreciate all your great efforts.

thank you for the appreciating .. a bit of help is also solicited please

 

 Sir, I work for Perkins School for the Blind in India as their Braille Literacy Consultant. 

hmm .. commendable effort !

 

Taking interest in software and hardwares useful for VI children is part of my job.

understood

very humbly yours 

pk sharma

61 yr old cardiac by-pass and 3times a week dialysis patient 

dedicated to the service of mankind .. of ALL kind ;-)

[Nirmal Verma]

Dear Group members,

 

I am not discussing this personally with sharma ji because I think this issue would make life easier for many people who look for easy solutions for inputing their thoughts in their mother tongue. some of the issues in Braille can also be resolved.

 

Dear Sharma ji,

 

Please see my response in Blue letters.

 

 

 

So far as I know at LV Prasad they have a low vision training centre and a computer centre where they teach computer with screen reader

correct .. this was to answer your query as to who is using computers for the blind

personally, i don't understand their 'course' .. it is all based on expensive branded

equipments .. un-affordable for most

I meant to say that to do work on computers, a visually challenged doesn't need to do input in Braille. This is a totally wrong concept of the sighted people by creating six key entry input systems for visally challenged.

 

Vinux is one such project (Linux fo VI) and all Linux distributions come with inbuilt screen readers. NVDA, Thunder screen readers are also free.

 

 

 

and there is no need to type in Braille in computer to do the daily work.

i agree .. yet, if  a sightless person DOES input in braille and simply prints it, 

it will help .. i guess .. field trials are already on to get more user feedbacks

No sir, If you need to print in Braille then you need to convert your file in .brf format only.

 

Aniruddha didn't need to type in Braille to write his mail.

there is a vast difference between you, me, aniruddha and a fresh 

non-english speaking indian native learner .. who knows only

his own mother tongue .. he probably wil need to inut in his

mother tongue characters and get the output in braille .. 

so that it can be printed in braille if necessary .. or even

read out from some hardware

Doing input in Braille is not required. Let that person use Mainstream inscript or Axar keyboard of his language. Please let me know if Axar works in Linux also. if its just plug and play and works with orca then nothing better than that.  

 

 

Why do you think that a blind person needs to input in Braille in a computer.

don't know .. but braillers are sold .. they are used for writing into

computers too .. wierd .. isn't it ? 

Braillers are not used to write on computers. We use it to write on papers only. I had seen once that webel had modified some braillers and made that into braille printer but never saw it working.

 

Braille input is done in computer only at the Braile presses  or wherever there are braille printers and we need to type in our data.

nope .. braillers are NOT used in braille presses only

I meant to say Braille input in computers.  

 

There are proprietary as well as open source softwares. 

proprietary s/w is usually very unaffordable for indian poor blind users

open source .. i salute these guys .. they do real service to humanity !

The attachment sent with my previous mail gives some details of some open source tools.  

 

Win Braille is a braille conversion software which is free but comes with index braille embossers.

therefore it is not free .. index braille embosser has to be bought :-(

I had downloaded it from their site long back without paying anything.

 

What we need is a software which makes the document in .brf (Braille ready format) as an alternative to duxbury.

i don't know really .. to me .. a .txt file containing content formatted in braille  fonts is good enough

it is a sure alternative to the .brf format .. makes life easy for all

 

To my knowledge .brf is required to emboss braille materials. That's why libraries like bookshare have .brf files along with daisy files.  

just select all, change format to devanaagarii (if hindi braille characters)

or change format to english (if english braille characters) and anyone can

read to check the work !

Nice! if odttobraille is made perfect then we can move forward in this direction.

 

if you are doing work on Braille then I urge you to work on liblouis. work on devnagri is not complete as per my information.  here is the link

 

code.google.com/p/liblouis

i'll surely look into this

 

Please don't make a separate keyboard for visually challenged that is not needed

but i have already made a very compact keyboard h/w s/w solution for ALL

sighted and not sighted .. it is easy to understand, remember, use

let us see field results from both the sightless and the sighted and THEN

let THEM decide the simpler option

in fact, the EXISTING keyboard, pc, h/w can be used akso .. only the numPad ..

notwithstanding the fact that a usb numpad is an easier and cheaper h/w

 

but,  make the existing axar keyboard compatible to NVDA screen reader.

it already is !

Please tell me how to do it.

 

this will give a very good tool in the hand of VI people.

i hope so

I believe it is!

 

If you have just talked to webel then I would urge you to see what is the condition of the devices set up by them everywhere in india. They never worked!!

well .. they do work .. but they have used the braille algorithms ..

simultaneous key presses to get ONE character .. by putting an

aluminium mask on top of the keyboard .. with cut outs for only

six keys .. sdf jkl .. it works well .. but modern keyboards do not 

support six simultaneous keypresses any more .. 

I had faced this problem in window xp installed in my laptop but in window 7 its not there. I used Logitech and TVS external keyboards and it worked fine.  

besides, they have kept the price sky high .. no one CAN buy 

except a few institutions (which face funds crunch most of the time)

webel has a very good collaborator .. the company who made the

computer-less marathi braille reader (audio  and pin-outs from

usb drive .. but marketing is poor .. no sales !!

Would like to see this device. I agree lots of work goes on but never comes to sunlight. Govt apathy and fund crunch.

 

Great work sir! Admire your devotion!

Teaching a child braille through computer is a strict no no! 

??

Braille in not taught on computer rather we use Brailler hardware or Braille slates.  

 

nobody teaches writing to their sighted children using computer.  

??

 In the primary level we don't teach our children writing using computers. Paper and  pencil is good enough. similary for a visually challenged child Brailler/braille slate are his essential tools.

 

According to your mail it seems that you are in process of developing a hardware for Brailling. I appreciate all your great efforts.

thank you for the appreciating .. a bit of help is also solicited please

Anytime sir! Please tell me what can I do.

 

 Sir, I work for Perkins School for the Blind in India as their Braille Literacy Consultant. 

hmm .. commendable effort !

 

Taking interest in software and hardwares useful for VI children is part of my job.

understood

very humbly yours 

pk sharma

61 yr old cardiac by-pass and 3times a week dialysis patient 

dedicated to the service of mankind .. of ALL kind ;-)

 

 

 

witth Best Regards

 

Nirmal Verma

--
With best regards

Nirmal Verma 

[Pk Sharma]

all members .. pls don't read thru this loooong email .. if it 'disturbs' .. thanks

it is of interest to at least 3 memebers on this group

 

i agree .. yet, if  a sightless person DOES input in braille and simply prints it, 

it will help .. i guess .. field trials are already on to get more user feedbacks

No sir, If you need to print in Braille then you need to convert your file in .brf format only.

on particular braille printers .. which print only braille

try dmp .. print by removing the ribbon .. in

bold and large braille font .. particularly the

axar braille font worked ok when i tried

Doing input in Braille is not required. Let that person use Mainstream inscript or Axar keyboard of his language.

this i can agree with too

 

 Please let me know if Axar works in Linux also.

yes .. it is a browser based utlility for now !

 

if its just plug and play and works with orca then nothing better than that.  

there is nothing to plug/play about the s/w .. it is a browser page :

www.axar.in/n-br .. but you will need braille font to be installed on your pc

the h/w is a usb numpad .. works on linux ubuntu 12.04 on my hp touchscreen

this is plug and play in linux

the other h/w is canon bluetooth mouse cum numPad cum calculatro

the other h/w is a bluetooth numpad only

these need to be detected, paired, authorised like any other blue tooth device

 

Braillers are not used to write on computers.

oh they are .. the new ones .. they interface very well with pc's

and send/receive inputs to/from the pc .. very expensive though 

 

We use it to write on papers only. I had seen once that webel had modified some braillers and made that into braille printer but never saw it working. 

don't know about this one .. will find out from webel mediatronics, taratala road

 

nope .. braillers are NOT used in braille presses only

I meant to say Braille input in computers.  

understood .. but disagree

 

The attachment sent with my previous mail gives some details of some open source tools.  

yes .. thank you for the info

 

Win Braille is a braille conversion software which is free but comes with index braille embossers.

therefore it is not free .. index braille embosser has to be bought :-(

I had downloaded it from their site long back without paying anything.

ah .. i learn too :-) .. this is nice of them to allow

What we need is a software which makes the document in .brf (Braille ready format) as an alternative to duxbury.

i don't know really .. to me .. a .txt file containing content formatted in braille  fonts is good enough

it is a sure alternative to the .brf format .. makes life easy for all

 

To my knowledge .brf is required to emboss braille materials. That's why libraries like bookshare have .brf files along with daisy files.  

it is right .. but what if  there are other ways besides regular braille embossers  ?

printing a braille 'mirro image' from paintbrush .. for example ?

but,  make the existing axar keyboard compatible to NVDA screen reader.

it already is !

 

Please tell me how to do it.

try it out .. i believe the hindi version of nvda reads out from the pc 

text .. and letters input from the keyboard too .. numpad is no exception

 

I had faced this problem in window xp installed in my laptop but in window 7 its not there. I used Logitech and TVS external keyboards and it worked fine.  

try the normal standard off-the-shelf keyboard .. those do not 

suport multiple keypresses any more :-(

 

besides, they have kept the price sky high .. no one CAN buy 

except a few institutions (which face funds crunch most of the time)

webel has a very good collaborator .. the company who made the

computer-less marathi braille reader (audio  and pin-outs from

usb drive .. but marketing is poor .. no sales !!

 

Would like to see this device. I agree lots of work goes on but never comes to sunlight. Govt apathy and fund crunch.

and sheer bad marketing .. 

which device .. the webel mediatronics one ?

to see you need to contact with webel mediatronics

 

The best part is that if you can read English braille then you can almost read any language. :-) This is because Braille is phonetic script.

yes .. i have used this same principle for creating the short hand 

keyboard .. numpad based .. you can read write ANY language

using the phonetic shorthand characters

speaking numpad based keyboard for  learning shorhand is on the way

pee .. bee .. chay .. jay .. etc

i had to design a shorhand font for this purpose

same is being done for hindi shorthand .. aashu lipi .. i had to desing

a shorthand font for that too

NOW one can read all languages of india too .. single script .. 

braille (bindu lipi)

OR

shortHand (aashu lipi)

and for indian dialects which have no script yet, 

bhartiya braille is a good solution .. though characters are a bit tough to learn

aashu lipi is easier as the characters are simple lines and curves 

ka kha ga gha              cha chha ja jha          ta tha da dha     

-      -,   -  -, (darker)     /        /,     /    /,           |    |,    |      |,      

 tta ttha  dda ddha     pa pha ba bha         and so on...

  (    (,      (      (           \      \,    \     \,       

 

Great work sir! Admire your devotion!

please USE and then help others .. i am sure that it is a paradigm changing

thingy .. but it has to be understood, used AND spread the word .. else it

will be jungle mein mor naachaa !

 

Braille in not taught on computer rather we use Brailler hardware or Braille slates.  

those are not universally available .. what we do, is what we do .. what others

need to do may be the 'easier' methods .. 

 

 

nobody teaches writing to their sighted children using computer.  

??

 In the primary level we don't teach our children writing using computers. Paper and  pencil is good enough. similary for a visually challenged child Brailler/braille slate are his essential tools.

hmm .. understand .. but i believe that with the cellphone proliferation, 

we need to learn a simpler newer easier way to teach .. no on uses

vinyl records, magnetic tape spools, magnetic tape cassettes, cd's or

even pen drives now .. micro sd cars in cellphone carry and play all the

music .. easy .. widely used .. everyone has become used to it !

things change .. for the better .. mostly .. axar missin is an effort in simplifying things

ALL things .. for the sightless .. for the sighted .. for the vain .. for the humble .. 

but you can lead the horse to the water .. you can't FORCE him to drink !

that is where axar mission is stuck for now :-(

 

According to your mail it seems that you are in process of developing a hardware for Brailling. I appreciate all your great efforts.

thank you for the appreciating .. a bit of help is also solicited please

Anytime sir! Please tell me what can I do.

will do .. a simple braille 'reader' using plastic octagons was develope

by one IAS officer in collaboration with the makers of perkin brailler in

chennai (?) .. if that device can be mass produced .. it is an easy and

affordable solution !

there are some other simpler ideas too .. base on the dot pen lock/unlock

refill mechanism .. and also a concept to move indian braille definitions to

simpler form .. so that illiterate kids can understand and don't have to cram

the patterns in the form of dot numbers  .. see war of dots .. the 8 dot braille

code .. with the dots being 2 high and 4 across .. the letters were so simple

to understan and use .. 

even the unicode braille patterns are so logically designed .. we need to 

make it all simple .. and i am determined to do it before i pass away .. whihc

may be anytime :-(

Nirmal Verma